A veteran Atlanta police officer has been named the department’s new commander in Zone 2, which covers Buckhead.
Maj. Van H. Hobbs Jr. replaces Zone 2 commander Maj. Robert Browning, who is being promoted to the position of commander of the department’s special operations section, the city said in a press release. The moves, announced by Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, take effect April 26.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the citizens of Zone 2,” Browning said in the press release. “I’m proud of our accomplishments, most recently capped by the department’s crime reduction award for a 13 percent reduction in crime in 2011.”
Hobbs, a 23-year APD veteran, was Assistant Zone Commander for Zone 6 in February and held that position until he moved to Zone 2 this month, the department said. “I look forward to serving the citizens with the same amount of dedication as Maj. Browning,” he said.
Browning became the Zone 2 commander in 2009. In 2011, Browning won the department’s “Crime Reduction Award” in 2011, an award to zone commander whose area showed the largest reduction in crime during a calendar year. Zone 2 crime dropped by 13 percent in 2011, the city said.
“Maj. Browning has been a tremendous asset to our community and to the Atlanta Police Department and he will be truly missed in Zone 2,” Atlanta City Councilwoman Yolanda Adrean said in the press release.